The Castle of Lannach was in WW II the place where Nazi botanists were experimenting with wheat of the Soviet Union's seed collection, mainly form the scientist Nikoa Vavilov. The Nazi's supported this genetic research on plants to be able to grow food and be independent for external supplies. The German scientist who was in control here was Heinz Brücher. After the war, he went to Argentina, Mendoza, where he was shot in december 1991, at the age of 75. Prissoners from the nearby concentration camps staffed the prisson, including 15 Jehovah's Witnesses. The Jehovah's Witnesses refused to kill weeds because this was against their religion.